Supreme Court to Consider Obstruction of Justice as Basis of Deportation

A pair of cases that consider whether deportation is appropriate for some obstruction of justice claims will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The two matters come from split decisions via the Ninth Circuit and the Fourth Circuit courts.

The Ninth Circuit split decision reviews whether discouraging a witness or victim from reporting a crime is considered a felony offense of obstruction of justice. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a felony offense can warrant deportation.

The Fourth Circuit matter considers whether being named an accessory after the fact to an aggravated felony as it relates to obstruction of justice under the INA qualifies for deportation proceedings.

The court will solely consider whether an offense must have a connection to a ‘pending or ongoing investigation or judicial proceeding’ to be considered an obstruction. A separate case considered by the Ninth Circuit in August 2020 found that obstruction of justice under the INA requires some connection to ongoing or pending proceedings.

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